The Daily Signal - Interior Secretary David Bernhardt Explains Fight to Preserve America’s History

Episode Date: August 10, 2020

A battle is raging for the future of our nation as "extremists and criminals literally try to rip out [statues and other monuments] to destroy the history of America," Interior Secretary David Bernhardt says. Bernhardt joins the podcast to explain how he is working alongside President Donald Trump to protect monuments that tell the story of America. The interior secretary also discusses the president’s signing of the Great American Outdoors Act and how the administration is preserving our national parks. We also read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about an 8-year-old boy who started an organization to serve veterans, seniors, and others in need.  Please take five minutes to complete The Daily Signal survey here. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, August 10th. I'm Robert Blewey. And I'm Virginia Allen. On today's show, Rob talks with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt about the vandalism and anti-American attacks on our statues and monuments, as well as President Trump's signing of the Great American Outdoors Act. We also share your letters to the editor and a good news story about an eight-year-old boy who started an organization to serve veterans, seniors, and others in need.

Before we get to today, show, we would like to ask you to take just five minutes at the end of today's show to complete a brief Daily Signal listener survey. This is a critical time in our nation's history. And now more than ever at the Daily Signal, we are committed to equipping you with the best information and insight that we possibly can. And to do that, we need your help. By sharing your thoughts and suggestions through our five-minute online survey, you will be helping the Daily Signal improve our reporting to reach more Americans with a message of freedom. You can find the five-minute survey at dailysignal.com slash survey.

Again, that's dailysignal.com slash survey. Now stay tuned for today's show coming up next. We are joined on the Daily Signal podcast today by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. He leads an agency with more than 70,000 employees who are responsible for 20% of our great country's lands. Everything from national parks and monuments to wildlife refuges. and other public lands. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us today. It's great to be here today.

You know, I had the opportunity to travel with Vice President Pence on Air Force II on his recent trip to Florida. And I heard him say that the choice we face is whether America remains America. I know that this is something that's been on your mind as well. You've written about it, spoken about it. This issue of vandalism, an anti-American attacks

on our statues and monuments, could you tell us and our listeners What steps that you're taking at the Interior Department to defend our history and heritage? Absolutely. As you pointed out, one of the jobs of the Department of the Interior is to tell America's story. And there's nothing worse, perhaps, than watching extremists and criminals literally attempt to rip statues and monuments that were carefully placed after great deliberation on a federalist. property and having extremists and criminals literally try to rip them out to destroy the history of America.

And the reality is, as we look at these attacks, these attacks are widespread, and they're not something that you could identify a justification for them. For example, we've had a monument of Gandhi defaced. We've had Ulysses S. Grant defaced and destroying. We've had the World War II Memorial defaced, the Lincoln Memorial defaced, and on and on and on. And what these criminals have done is literally tried to attack America's history. Now, the reality is the President has done two things that are very, very significant. The first is he issued an executive order to federal agency.

But it's also a message to the criminals who want to engage in this destruction. And that executive order says, to me specifically, please make sure that you're protecting these monuments and do it. If you need additional resources, ask other agencies for them. If we have a crime committed at a monument, you investigate that crime. We track down the criminals and we prosecute them to the full extent of the law. And the legal penalties here are quite severe, both criminally and civilly. And so the president did that, and that's clear direction.

It means that you attack a federal property. Don't think it's a freebie. It's not a layup. Secondly, the president has taken the incredible step of saying, look, we are also proud of American exceptionalism. And we need to highlight as many great individuals in our society as appropriate. We shouldn't necessarily be tearing monuments down. What we should be doing is recognizing those exceptional individuals. And so he directed at the steps of Mount Rushmore, he directed us to engage in developing a task force to look

at improving the way we highlight exceptional Americans. He directed us to begin the establishment of a national garden of American heroes and asked for options of where those, that garden may be placed and identified that the first 30 heroes would be presented in his executive order. but we can add many more between 100 to a thousand more. And so we're right now engaged in looking all over the country to find the optimal location. And at the same time, we're engaged in a process of soliciting from governors and from county commissioners and others potential names of exceptional Americans that should be memorialized in this great garden. And what we have happening right now is we're getting tons of suggestions on optimal locations. And at the same time, we're getting tons of suggestions on potential names.

As a matter of fact, we I think are either, I think we're about to put up a website that allows people to submit names if they want. A number of governors have already submitted locations and names, and that will continue. And I think what we're going to find is that there are so many exceptional stories about exceptional Americans throughout our history, whether they contributed to law, philosophy, science, sports, music, the arts. And I think that what the president is doing here is recognizing that perhaps there are more stories to tell than we currently tell, and let's get on with telling those great stories. And I'm really excited about it. We're also engaged in a process of working with communities to deal with statues that have been destroyed. So we're in negotiations with a number of folks about how we might be able to assist them with those. And the bottom line is we're not going to stand for radical violent criminals trying to destroy our property or our history.

Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for sharing all of that information. It's exciting to hear that the public will have an opportunity to weigh in with their suggestions. And we certainly look forward to that opportunity. You know, as somebody who grew up in upstate New York, not far from Fort Stanford, which is a National Park Service site in Rome, New York, I can tell you from my own personal experience, how important it was to learn our history from visiting these types of locations.

And so certainly protecting them and defending them is an important piece, not only for our American history, but for future generations that are to come and want to learn and see, you know, what the contributions were and how they can make America better. Absolutely. And, you know, the president,

and the Trump administration recognized that we've contributed so much not only to American society as a people, but really to the world, the notions of freedom, liberty, God-given rights, a commitment to the rule of law. And we're not going to let people criminally destroy those items that provide. inspiration and solace to all of us. Well, Mr. Secretary, you had a big moment recently when the president signed the Great American Outdoors Act. You wrote a recent column for Fox News calling the new law a, quote, generational win for conservation. Can you explain to our listeners the law's significance? Well, it's incredibly significant. And it's really about promises that have not been kept.

for a very long time and to just give you some history. All the way back in 1964, Congress passed legislation that would establish a specific fund that money would go into from various items and amended that in the late 60s to include revenue from outer continental shelf leasing in oil and gas. And the compromise was at that time is we'll have to, we'll have to be. have this fund, the fund will be made up of fees from oil and gas revenue. And then that money would be spent on recreational facilities, on land conservation efforts, both through the federal government and also through state and local government. And in the entire life of the fund, it was almost never the case that Congress appropriated the money that they committed to, which at the time was $900 million a year. So this keeps that promise. It permanently funds

that effort. And the second thing it does is creates a new fund that will be made up of other energy revenues. And that fund will be devoted to ensure that. that our public lands infrastructure, our national parks infrastructure, and even our Indian school infrastructure is brought up to the point that the deferred maintenance problem is addressed. And what I mean by a deferred maintenance problem is the government for years has simply let things be created and then not taken great care of them. They've spent money on other things. And as a result of that, many of our structures and facilities and roads and water systems are incredibly deteriorated. It's like if you lived in a house for 60 years and never spent money to do those things that you needed to do to update it, like paint it, maintain it.

The government often has deprioritized those processes to do other things. And as a result, the maintenance obligations have become, frankly, overwhelming. And so Congress stepped in and said, hey, we're providing a specific fund up to $1.9 billion a year that can be used to address these historically large problems. and it will make a very big difference over the next five years. So this legislation, in doing these two things and funding it the way it has been funded, this legislation is the biggest investment in conservation efforts, certainly in my lifetime. And I believe it's fundamentally unprecedented.

No, no, there is no, um, there is no, other instance of a conservation investment like this on the mandatory side of the government ledger. Thanks for that explanation. A couple of follow-up questions for you. I know that a number of organizations, including my colleagues at the Heritage Foundation, have called for other ways to address the maintenance backlog, such as adjusting park entrance fees, charging international tourists who don't pay taxes, maybe more, increasing

concessions at parks. What opportunities do you see to increase revenues at parks and empower park directors to use that revenue in a way that they see fit? Well, I'm very bullish on those ideas. You know, here's what we do know, that the fund created will not eliminate the maintenance backlog. I view it as sort of a down payment as we look to use all of the tools we have in our toolbox, which certainly includes user pays for.

That's a that's a basic notion that makes a lot of sense and and even improving our partnership opportunities, our donation opportunities, and certainly our commercial alliances. We actually have proposed regulations to modernize our concessions practices, which are those partnerships with business. ventures. And so I personally believe that the private sector, the utilization of fees differently, and the creation of this fund are all a very harmonious part of ensuring that we have a sustainable park service for this century and the next century. So I'm a big believer that all these tools are necessary to optimize where we need to be with the investments that we are making. Now, Mr. Secretary, I don't have to tell you this, but some on the left, including Joe Biden, have called for a prohibition of oil and gas development on public lands. What kind of an impact

would that have? And how would it impact the states where this energy production takes place? Well, let me be very, very clear. And, you know, when I look at what this administration has done, on oil and gas. The Trump administration has been a great partner. The states, our revenues up until the China virus, our revenues were very, very high, and we were doing great work, and it's important to recognize that onshore, 48 cents of every dollar of revenue from an oil and gas realm goes right to the state, States use that money for schools, for things that are their priorities. And the concept of the Green New Deal that's been proposed in Congress and things like that

up in Congress, the concept is that they would just completely take away the money that goes to these states, number one. But number two, it would have incredibly significant. and social dislocation issues. Energy employment has been a primary driver in our economy in many of these communities and states. And to just say we're not going to permit and authorize these activities to take place

on public land is simply nonsensical. What I've often said is if somebody wants to do that, they should call the governor of New Mexico and ask her how she's going to feel to lose a billion dollars a year out of her budget. And because it's just, it's completely impractical. It makes no sense. We need the energy. We need the economy.

And on top of that now, every ounce of revenue we get from these lands, a portion of that revenue is going right back into the environment through these mechanisms that we get from these. We just spent time talking about in terms of the Great American Outdoors Act. So we're actually going to be benefiting conservation initiatives by having that revenue. Well, your administration, the Trump administration, has put a priority on regulatory improvement. You've reduced the time that it takes to complete an environmental impact statement and environmental assessments. Can you tell us what this regulatory improvement and certainty for those involved,

means going forward. And what would you say to those critics who accuse you of prioritizing the industry over the environment? Well, first off, let me take your last question first. We have not, and I repeat, we have not prioritized industry over the environment. What we've done is said we can have rigorous environmental standards and we can have clean air and water. And we can do those things while being bullish on the production and development responsibly of our energy resources. And in doing that, we can have both. I grew up in a community that had wonderful public lands and wilderness areas and at the same time had natural resource development.

You can do both. The president recognizes that. We know that. So number one, it's a false choice. But number two, what we've done, what this president has done in terms of deregulatory efforts is completely unprecedented in any administration, even the phenomenal administrations like President Ravens. When I look at the number of things that we've done, the president and the administration has just modeled. modified the NEPA regulations, the National Environmental Policy Act regulations, for the entire government. That has not been done in over 40 years. We have modified our endangered species regulations in ways that have not been done since the ESA was created.

And we are fundamentally shifting to an element of predictability and certainty that when I came into the Department of the Interior, people would tell me, they did not want to conduct activities on federal lands because of the lack of predictability. Last week, I was in the West and I had a person come up and say to me, do you know that now federal lands because of their predictability and the improvements we've made to our process, you've made to your processes, do you know that they're now more attractive in certain states and state, land or even private land. That's how big a difference this president's had in creating a sane regulatory environment. And what that means is strong environmental protection, but at the same time, opportunities for red tape to not kill businesses and jobs and allow this economy to thrive.

And that's what happened. And now the president, we have the China virus. And now the president is right back at building that wonderful economy back and an interior managed properties will play a role in that. Well let me ask you about this because last year the Fish and Wildlife Service along with the National Marine Fisheries Service finalized a rule that would improve the implementation of the Endangered Species Act and this final rule would treat threatened and endangered species differently it also would inform the public about the costs of species conservation and stop and

opposing critical habitat designations that wouldn't even help some species. Can you explain why this regulation is so significant and how it's going to actually help improve species conservation? Absolutely. The reality is what we did is we took a very close analysis of the statute itself and how different agencies do things. On that, the Fish and Wildlife Service had one practice. the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA Fisheries, had a different practice that they used for exactly the same statute.

And what we said is which of those two is better? And then we suggested that the better one would be the one that we used. So the Department of the Interior actually adopted the same process that the National Marine Fisheries Service and NOAA had used for a very long time. And we did that because we realized that by allowing, having the ability to specifically tailor regulations for threatened lease listings to a particular problem would allow us to focus on the problem, the species,

and get on top of those issues, and not necessarily have a problem. an unfocused regulatory paradigm that was creating burdens, but really no benefit to the species. And so what we've been able to do with that specific change is focus on the priority and efforts in conservation that we need to improve the species. We also, by doing it, ensure that there's an opportunity for incentivizing good activities that would be good for the species. So encouraging them, them by giving them some regulatory protection. So it's actually a great example of adopting a best practice, having a best practice that's

focused on dealing with the issue at hand, but not creating unneeded burdens just because something was about to be listed. And so I think over time, people are going to find that that was a very significant change a positive direction, both for communities as well as species. And so we're very excited about that. And what's really interesting here, this is something that an administration has not done for, you know, 40 years. And we're not even close to done.

We're really in the process now of engaging in sort of our second round of deregulatory efforts. And we're just now really beginning. to have a significant change in the culture of our regional and field offices. Because it takes a long time to institutionalize change within the government. And so I really think we've just, we've made tremendous deregulatory changes that are tremendously positive. But I think we've just begun to scratch the surface. And we have so many opportunities because, you know, America, the federal government,

government for 40 years has been unidirectional in thinking we just need more and more and more. And President Trump's administration has an opportunity to come in and say, look, what is the purpose of what we're doing? How can we do it, achieve that purpose in the best possible way to get the best outcome? While at the same time doing it in a way that is not unnecessarily burdensome and we're looking at every single business process we have in the department asking those questions and the amount of improvement in the department is significant but if you just take us as as interior and think about how small we are to the whole of government and then think that every single department and agency is going through the same evaluation we are really having a transformative effect

that no one really wants to, it's not something that you're going to find all over cable news. But the reality is it's an incredibly big change in the federal government that's taking place. And it's incredibly significant. Mr. Secretary, thank you for telling us about it. It certainly is. I think it's an underreported or unreported story for sure. It's one of the reasons that we wanted to highlight it on the Daily Signal. And also, you know, you personally are somebody who's an avid hunter and fisherman,

somebody who cares about the environment. You have a long history of doing so. So I appreciate you sharing us with us, those principles that are guiding your work and the efforts that you're taking at the Interior Department. It's a real honor to have you on the Daily Signal podcast. Again, thank you for returning. And I wish you the best in the work that you continue to do. Thanks a lot.

Thanks for having us. Really appreciate it. Thank you. It's because of support from listeners like you that we can continue to produce podcasts like Heritage Explains and SCOTUS 101. And you can help us keep it up by going to www.org. slash podcast today to make your tax deductible gift. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor.

Each Monday, we feature our favorites on this show. Virginia, who do you have first? In response to last week's problematic women podcast interview with Sandra Buka discussing the future of women's sports amid the transgender movement, Rabbi Barbara ALO writes, thanks for a very important interview with Sandra Buka. Back in the day, I was a high school swimmer in the 1960s, and I remember well the lawsuit that Ms. Bucca filed. I agree with her assessment that as a nation, we have undone Title IX and taken a giant step backwards. Thank you for a meaningful podcast. And in response to my trip on Air Force 2 with Vice President Mike Pence,

Sherry Schofield writes, Thank you for the informative article on VP Pence in Florida, so refreshing to read positive and true reporting and telling it like it is. Well, thank you for those kind words, Sherry. It certainly was quite a trip and an eventful day. Virginia, I understand you have a bonus letter for us today about Vice President Pence. We do. Sterling Bear writes to us.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Rob, for your uplifting article about our amazing vice president, Mike Pence. I read this out loud to my wife and got emotional reading it. Afterwards, as I said to her, I love this man, I love our vice president for being such a good man. I wish that faith was as foundational a principle in our nation as it was during our founding father's time, or even during my growing up time 60 years ago. sadly the further we slip from faith the further we slip from the moorings of our treasured liberties of life and the pursuit of happiness as a god-fearing benevolent hard-working nation i must admit that i and so many others are terrified of the alternatives that we face god bless you for your

powerful reporting on the good the virtuous and praiseworthy efforts of our vice president and this administration. We pray for them and all who love America, that good will win, that justice will prevail, and that life, liberty, and trusting in God will remain as the bedrock of America. May God bless us all. If you have any chance at all to provide feedback to the vice president, please tell him how much we love him and pray for him every day. I wish I could give him a great big bear hug and thank him. Well, Mr. Bear, thanks so much for that letter. Truly incredible to hear from our listeners all the time. And this one was extra special to me. So I appreciate that note that you sent us at The Daily Signal. And yours could be featured on next week's show. Send us an email to letters at dailysignal.com. Conservative women. Conservative feminist. It's true. We do exist. I'm Virginia Allen. And every Thursday morning on problematic women, Lauren Evans and I sort through the news to bring you stories. in interviews that are a particular interest to conservative leaning or problematic women.

That is women whose views and opinions are often excluded or mocked by those on the so-called feminist left. We talk about everything from pop culture to policy and politics. Search for problematic women wherever you get your podcast. Virginia, you have a good news story to share with us today. Over to you. Thanks so much, Rob. Grayson Winfield is an eight-year-old boy from South Carolina on a mission to help others. Grayson wants to be a Navy SEAL when he grows up, but he's already begun a mission of service.

With the help of his parents, Grayson and his little brother Garrett started an organization called Helping Footprint to give gift cards to those in need of food in the community, mow the lawns of veterans for free, and perform other community-centered services. Grayson and his dad Greg Winfield joined Fox News about a week ago to share how all the generosity began. It started when I saw people didn't have any food, so I started to give out gift cards. Grayson said that it is just the right thing to do in time of need. And I love how simple that is. He's right.

It's just the right thing to do. And that's so critical to just step up and do that next right thing. And his dad chimed in and added that Grayson has been trying to help others since he was just a small child. Even at a young age, we noticed that he was a helper. He at four years old was starting to give away toys at Christmas time because the answer we got, why do you want to pay your toys was, well, there's some kids that don't have a lot like us to have. So we want to be able to help them because so they can have Christmas. The little organization has big plans to keep serving those in need during the pandemic,

and even plans on buying toys for children when Christmas time rolls around. Way to go, Grayson. It is so encouraging to see someone so young stepping up to help others in their community. It certainly is, Virginia. You just love to see it. And hopefully he's an inspiration for other young people to do their part as well. Thanks so much for bringing us that story. Of course, Rob.

It's always a joy. Well, we're going to leave it there for today. can find the Daily Signal podcast on the Rikishay Audio Network. All of our shows can be found at dailysignal.com slash podcasts. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. And be sure to listen every weekday by adding the Daily Signal podcast as part of your Alexa Flash briefing. If you like what you hear, please leave us a review and a five-star rating. It means a lot to us and help spread the word to other listeners.

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